Hysterectomy 11/09 background, Recovery, advice for single mom

Sorry I wasnt sure where to post this. So if it is wrong, Feel free to move it. But I wanted to interact and talk with others.

I'm 23y/o and have one daughter 2 years old. American but living in japan.

For the past year, I have had severe pain in my uterus like a knife stabbing me always. Sometimes I couldnt move or work at all...

At one point I was bleeding so much from the uterus, I was very weak, lost a lost of blood, slept 22 hours everyday for 4 days... my kid was on her own pretty much.

I went to 12 hospitals for answers.
I have had ultrasound, CT scan, MRI..

They couldnt find anything. I got my adnominal hysterectomy finally (they didnt want to take it though because of my age... )
but we had been having this conversation 10 months now, and have tried everything else. Dienogest, Lupron, pain pills.

I couldnt have sex at all either due to the severe pain it caused.

I told them either way they take it or not, I cant have more kids because I cant have sex. And if I get a period it causes severe uncontrollable bleeding (I was going through adult diapers every hour)

So where I am I going to find the time to get pregnant?

So they took it. He told my mom it looked healthy but was kinda large too. Whatever that means... They still cant find the problem (They though Adenomyosis) but cant see it, so will look under microscope for anything else. I personally think something else may have been touching it or causing problems.

Anyway, The pain I have now is much better than what I had before.

Also all my surgery and medications are free for me, paid by the Japanese national health insurance.

In Japan you are required to stay in the hospital for 10 days following a surgery or even giving natural birth.. too long! He said I can leave early after 7 days on this coming Thursday because the ward is crowded.

I thought they are crazy to keep people in the hospital that long, but i prefer it compared to staying at home trying to take care of myself and a young child. I am a single mom. I dont have any help. She is staying in a special children's home now during my hospital stay and will return home the same day I will.

My mother also came to japan for support and return home in a week. I hope I can help her tour a few places this weekend before she goes back to america. A trip here should NOT be just staying at home watching me rest...



As for my recovery at this point:

According to the pain chart on this site,

Pre-surgery my pain was usually 6 on most days. 8-9 on worst days that I couldnt move at all. Some crying here and there, but I dont think I was near delirium lol.

Post surgery I am usually at 3. No pain in that empty spot anymore. Just some pain from the incision. Laughing and sneezing are the worst. My silly mom had me laughing hysterically yesterday and in bad pain at the same time. If I laugh, it stings a lot, and if I sneeze it feels like the incision separated open.

When i sneezed the first time I was gonna yell out, never felt that kind of pain before. But it was like 6 am and I am in a big shared room with 3 people so yeah... had to suffer in silence, face in pillow, rocking side to side for a couple minutes near delirium. I think i know what its almost like to be awake during a surgery with no anesthesia though.

After a couple weeks I hope to be at 0.

I am getting to know the abdominal area very well and what muscles are used for what actions (sitting up, standing up, laughing, hiccuping, sneezing - they are all different with varying levels of pain) and how to minimally use certain muscles.

Lets hope for a nice recovery because I can't wait to get back into my martial arts training..

Also I was concerned about caring for my child when my mother leaves japan. I will be 2 weeks post op. How was your feelings and activity at that time?

If you have any advice for taking care of a young child as a single mom, please share your advice or regime. Thanks for much for reading!

Welcome DjLady. You are in the right spot, though you might look for the recovery thread for the week of your surgery. There you will be able to share with others at the same stage of recovery. The general post-op boards are most often used for specific questions or comments, but we're all here for you and happy to offer advice and support.

It's interesting that different countries (and even states here in the U.S.) have different rules about hospital stays. I hadn't heard of 10 days before. I'm sure I would have gone stir crazy!

I don't have any advice on the single-parent front. It has been 18 years since I fit that category, and didn't have major surgery during that time. Will be praying for you.